Bruins Rally Late, Down Flyers in OT

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Two prospects making a push put the Flyers ahead in the third period. Into the final minutes, the Flyers had done a good job to hold the Bruins off the board.

With 1:46 to go, the Bruins finally found a way to even the score. Chris Wagner was alone on a two-on-one and beat Brian Elliott through the five-hole to tie the game at three.

On a power play in overtime, the Bruins were able to finish the comeback with a goal from Jake DeBrusk that leaked through the legs of Elliott in a 4-3 Flyers loss to Boston at TD Garden on Monday. 

The Bruins got the game's first goal off a rush. Jakub Lauko worked his way into the Flyers zone and zipped around Mark Friedman. From a sharp angle, he put a shot to the short side over Elliott to give the Bruins the lead at 9:32.

The Flyers had an answer three minutes later. Some nice work along the boards by Sean Couturier managed to free up the puck for James van Riemsdyk. van Riemsdyk centered to Travis Konecny who beat Tuukka Rask from the slot to tie the game at 12:44.

Shots through 20 minutes were 10-7 Boston.

Just 63 seconds into the second, the Bruins struck on a two-on-one. Brad Marchand executed a perfect give-and-go with David Pastrnak, taking the return feed and burying it into an empty net to make it 2-1 Boston.

The Flyers struggled to apply pressure in the middle period, finally getting a few chances late in the period, but trailed after two. Shots were 17-14 Flyers after two periods.

The Flyers grabbed the lead in the third on two quick goals. First, Carsen Twarynski scored for the second straight game, picking up a rebound out of a net-mouth scramble to tie the game at 4:42. Just over two minutes later, with the Flyers on the power play, Connor Bunnaman emerged from the corner with the puck and threw it to the front of the net. The attempt hit the stick of Trent Frederic and went in to give the Flyers the lead.

The lead held up until the final two minutes of the third when Wagner was able to get a free chance in on Elliott. Phil Myers misplayed a puck in the neutral zone, first trying to glove it down and then getting it caught in his skates. Sean Kuraly poked it free and drew the coverage from Travis Sanheim. That left Wagner alone in front and Kuraly fed him with the pass. Wagner moved in and beat Elliott through the five-hole to tie the game with 1:46 to play.

Early in overtime, the Flyers had a great chance to end the game as Kevin Hayes got a breakaway. His first attempt and rebound chance were both stopped by Dan Vladar, who took over for Rask at the start of the third period. Behind the play, Hayes was called for holding, giving the Bruins a 4-on-3 power play.

During the power play, the Bruins got the puck down low and DeBrusk took a couple of whacks at a puck near Elliott's pads. It appeared Elliott had the puck covered and the whistle had sounded, but as it did, the puck leaked through and went into the net. The goal call on the ice stood and the Bruins escaped with a 4-3 win.

Elliott made 18 saves on 22 shots in the loss. Rask stopped 16 of 17 shots in two periods. Vladar stopped 14 of 16 shots faced. The overtime power-play goal allowed by the Flyers was their first power-play goal allowed in the preseason.

The Flyers are now 1-2-2 through five games of the preseason. They play their final game in the United States during the preseason on Thursday night when they face the New York Rangers at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• BOS Jakub Lauko (1) (David Backes, Josiah Didier) 9:32
• PHI Travis Konecny (1) (James van Riemsdyk) 12:44

2nd Period

• BOS Brad Marchand (1) (David Pastrnak) 1:03

3rd Period

• PHI Carsen Twarynski (2) (Chris Stewart, Scott Laughton) 4:42
• PHI Connor Bunnaman (1) PP (Unassisted) 6:46
• BOS Chris Wagner (2) (Sean Kuraly, Urho Vaakanainen) 18:14

Overtime

• BOS Jake DeBrusk (1) PP (Marchand, Pastrnak) 2:35

Game Statistics